Mathematics

It is usually said that all of mathematics can, in principle, be formulated in a sufficiently theorem-rich system of axiomatic set theory. What the axioms of a set theory that could accomplish this might be, however, and whether they are at all natural is not obvious in every case. (The recent development in abstract algebra known as category theory offers the most conspicuous examples of these problems.) The axioms of set theory may be presumed to hold in virtue of the meanings of the terms set, member of, and so on. Thus, in some loose sense all of pure mathematics falls within the scope of logic in the wider sense. This assertion is not very informative, however, as long as the logician has no ways of analyzing these meanings so as to be able to tell what assumptions (axioms of set theory) should be adopted. The definitions of basic mathematical concepts (such as “number”) in logical terms proposed by Gottlob Frege (in 1884), by Bertrand Russell (in 1903), and by their successors do not help in this enterprise. It is not clear that more recent insights in logic help very much, either, in the search for strong set-theoretical assumptions. The relationship of mathematics to logic on this level therefore remains ambiguous.

Notwithstanding these deep problems, virtually all normal mathematical argumentation is carried out in logical terms—mostly in first-order terms, but with a generous sprinkling of second-order reasoning and various principles of set theory. Historically speaking, most specific early examples of nontrivial logical reasoning were taken from mathematics.

Often these examples were set in contrast to logical arguments understood in a narrow traditional sense—in a sense narrower still than the idea of logic as being exhausted by quantification theory. According to this traditional view, logic is equated with syllogistic; i.e., with a part of that part of first-order logic that deals with properties and not with relations. Much of what earlier philosophers said of mathematical reasoning must, thus, be understood as applying to relational (first-order) reasoning. The present-day philosophy of logic is therefore as much an heir to traditional philosophy of mathematics as to traditional philosophy of logic.

Specific logical results are applicable in several parts of mathematics, especially in algebra, and various concepts and techniques used by logicians have often been borrowed from mathematics. (Thus one can even speak of “the mathematics of metamathematics.”)

Computers

It has already been indicated that recursive function theory is, in effect, the study of certain idealized automata (computers). It is, in fact, a matter of indifference whether this theory belongs to logic or to computer science. The idealized assumption of a potentially infinite computer tape, however, is not a trivial one: Turing machines typically need plenty of tape in their calculations. Hence the step from Turing machines to finite automata (which are not assumed to have access to an infinite tape) is an important one.

This limitation does not dissociate computer science from logic, however, for other parts of logic are also relevant to computer science and are constantly employed there. Propositional logic may be thought of as the “logic” of certain simple types of switching circuits. There are also close connections between automata theory and the logical and algebraic study of formal languages. An interesting topic on the borderline of logic and computer science is mechanical theorem proving, which derives some of its interest from being a clear-cut instance of the problems of artificial intelligence, especially of the problems of realizing various heuristic modes of thinking on computers. In theoretical discussions in this area, it is nevertheless not always understood how much textbook logic is basically trivial and where the distinctively nontrivial truths of logic (including first-order logic) lie.

The quest for theoretical self-awareness in the empirical sciences has led to interest in methodological and foundational problems as well as to attempts to axiomatize different empirical theories. Moreover, general methodological problems, such as the nature of scientific explanations, have been discussed intensively among philosophers of science. In all of these endeavours, logic plays an important role.

By and large, there are here three different lines of thought. (1) Often, only the simplest parts of logic—e.g., propositional logic—are appealed to (over and above the mere use of logical notation). Sometimes, claims regarding the usefulness of logic in the methodology of the empirical sciences are, in effect, restricted to such rudimentary applications. This restriction is misleading, however, for most of the interesting and promising connections between methodology and logic lie on a higher level, especially in the area of model theory. In econometrics, for instance, a special case of the logicians’ problems of definability plays an important role under the title “identification problem.” On a more general level, logicians have been able to clarify the concept of a model as it is used in the empirical sciences.

In addition to those employing simple logic, two other contrasting types of theorists can be distinguished: (2) philosophers of science, who rely mostly on first-order formulations, and (3) methodologists (e.g., Patrick Suppes, a U.S. philosopher and behavioral scientist), who want to use the full power of set theory and of the mathematics based on it. Both approaches have advantages. Usually realistic axiomatizations and other reconstructions of actual scientific theories are possible only in terms of set theoretical and other strong mathematical conceptualizations (theories conceived of as “set-theoretical predicates”). In spite of the oversimplification that first-order formulations often entail, however, they can yield theoretical insights because first-order logic (including its model theory) is mastered by logicians much more thoroughly than is set theory.

Many empirical sciences, especially the social sciences, use mathematical tools borrowed from probability theory and statistics, together with such outgrowths of these as decision theory, game theory, utility theory, and operations research. A modest but not uninteresting beginning in the study of their foundations has been made in modern inductive logic.

Human disciplines

The relations of logic to linguistics, psychology, law, and education are here considered.

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